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How lemon law works
A lemon law makes the maker buy back or replace a new vehicle with a defect it cannot fix within a set number of tries. The claim follows six steps: keep the repair orders, count the attempts and days against your state's numbers, tell the maker in writing, use a dispute program if the law requires it, ask for a buyback or replacement, and file before the time limit. The protection period runs 12 to 36 months, depending on the state.
The steps
- Keep every repair order. Each visit should give you a work order with the date, the mileage, what you reported and what the dealer did, even when they find nothing. These papers are your case.
- Count attempts and days. Most states presume a lemon after 3 or 4 repairs for the same defect, fewer for a defect that could cause a crash, or about 30 days in the shop, inside the protection period. Your state's numbers.
- Tell the maker in writing. Send a letter to the maker, not only the dealer, by a tracked method, and keep a copy. Many states give the maker one last repair attempt after that letter. Letter template.
- Use the dispute program if you must. Some states and some warranties require you to try the maker's arbitration program or the state's before you sue. Arbitration.
- Ask for a buyback or replacement. Ask in writing. The maker may offer a buyback, a replacement, or cash to keep the car. What each pays.
- File before the time limit. If the maker says no, file a claim in court or with the state program before your state's deadline. Time limits by state.
How long it takes
No public source reports how long claims take on average. These are the clocks the law itself sets:
- The protection period: 12 to 36 months after delivery, depending on the state, often with a mileage limit. The repairs must start inside it.
- Dispute programs: a maker's program that follows the federal rules must decide within 40 days.
“within 40 days of notification of the dispute”
FTC Rule 703, 16 C.F.R. § 703.5(d) - California's new process, for makers that opted in: send a written demand at least 30 days before suing; the maker must offer within 30 days and complete a buyback within 60. Details.
- The time limit to file: set by each state, often a year or more after the protection period or the warranty ends. By state.
Who pays for it
In most states, and under federal warranty law, an owner who wins can make the maker pay the lawyer. Federal warranty law lets the court add the owner's lawyer fees to the judgment:
“may be allowed by the court to recover as part of the judgment a sum equal to the aggregate amount of cost and expenses (including attorneys’ fees based on actual time expended)”
Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, 15 U.S.C. § 2310(d)(2)
That is why most lemon law lawyers ask nothing up front. Some charge costs, or take a share of a settlement: ask before you sign.
Questions people ask
How long does a lemon law claim take?
No public source reports an average. The law sets some clocks: a federal-rule dispute program must decide within 40 days, and in California's new process the maker must offer within 30 days of a written demand. A claim that goes to court takes longer.
How long after buying a car can you use the lemon law?
The repairs must start inside your state's protection period, 12 to 36 months after delivery, often with a mileage limit. The time limit to file can run longer. Time limits by state.
Do I have to give the maker a final repair attempt?
In many states, yes, after you tell the maker in writing. Your state guide quotes what its law says on notice.
Can I keep driving my car during a claim?
Usually, yes. Keep it maintained and insured, and do not sell or trade it in while the claim is open: a buyback needs the car. If the defect makes it unsafe, stop driving it and tell the dealer and the maker in writing.
Sources
- FTC Rule 703, 16 C.F.R. § 703.5(d) (law.cornell.edu)
- Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, 15 U.S.C. § 2310(d)(2) (law.cornell.edu)
- Each state's lemon law, quoted and linked on its state guide.
Quotes are copied from the page they link to, checked October 26, 2026.
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